Sunday, February 18, 2007
News from the Hacienda
I just returned from a day in Quito getting materials and picking up Hugo from his return flight. He is travel weary and really happy to be back with his family. His eye surgery went well and he believes he is in much better shape with it now. He is very happy to have had the chance for God to save his only eye with the prayers and financial help of many Christians! He sends his sincere "Thanks" to everyone who has been a prayer partner during this stressful time in his life!
This is a huge holiday weekend for all Latin countries ... Carnival. It lasts through next Tuesday with all banks, factories, and personal businesses being closed. I was lucky to find a few places opened until noon today. With all public schools being closed, we decided to close the School of Hope on Monday and Tuesday as well. Martin and Lorena, Santiago and Darwin all traveled yesterday after school to Riobamba to visit with their families. Their girls and Hugo & Jenny's girls get to spend the weekend together. Justin & Amanda left early this morning to go to the beach for a few days while Pat and I have baby Uliana and Isabella with us and our boys (a real cabin full)!
Our days are filled to the brim with trying to get our house and the school building construction complete. The photo to the right is of the new school construction. We are very close now and it is really exciting for everyone!
We have been blessed by God in His sending Miranda to us. She is a certified teacher of English as a Second Language and has come to Ecuador seeking God's will for her life. We have assigned her all of the classes that Justin normally teaches on a temporary basis. This frees Justin up to work full time on our new school application. We have hired a young couple to help us with the application process to work directly with Justin. She is a veteran school teacher and he is almost complete in earning a teaching degree as well. Their help has already been a wonderful blessing. The application is very, very detailed and involved, but we are all learning so much in the process. Justin believes we are progressing very well and will make the deadline if everything goes as planned. Please pray for him and our efforts in this huge task. The more we learn, the more we see God's guidance.
Our children continue to respond well in school training. It is amazing to us to see how well different students are advancing in learning English. Even though students like Jhon and Leonella really struggle in math, they both excel in English! All of the boys are learning more English due to their living in our home and Pat and I are speaking Spanish a little easier now.
We continue to be richly blessed from our study of God's word from passages like Matthew 16:23 where Jesus rebukes Peter. Jesus had told his disciples what would happen to him in Jerusalem and how he would be killed but Peter tried to correct Jesus and said "Heaven forbid" this would happen. Then Jesus said; "You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, and not from God's". We continue our efforts in "seeing things from God's point of view" as we watch Him mold the Hacienda of Hope into what it is becoming!
God bless you ...the Snyders
Thoughts from Miranda ...
I came to Ecuador last September with two main goals in mind: to learn Spanish and to serve people in need. The first five months I lived in Quito with an Ecuadorian family and taught private English lessons to support myself. In this setting, I was submerged into Ecuadorian culture and was forced to communicate in Spanish all the time. I had heard of the Hacienda of Hope even before I came to Ecuador so I always thought that I would love to end up serving there. When Jerry called me in the middle of January to ask me to teach starting in February, I immediately saw it as an opportunity to fulfill one of my purposes for being in Ecuador.
I have now been teaching English and Science to the two older groups of children at the school for almost two weeks. Already God has used this time and experience to bless me. I am living by myself at the Hacienda and although I am independent and don't mind living alone it has been an adjustment for me that has been lonely at times. But you know what God keeps reminding me even in those slightly lonely times? That I am here serving Him, serving His people, and that He is always near me. I keep thinking about the situation of these little children and the deep hurt and pain of loneliness that they must have experienced at such a young age. I cannot contemplate the kind of loneliness that comes when a parent gives up their child for whatever reason. The kids are so blessed and happy to be at the Hacienda of Hope, but I know that they have deeper scars and bigger wounds than I will ever have and that is what I need to remember when I start feeling sorry for myself over a little lonely feeling.
The kids have touched me so much already in this short amount of time. One of my favorite things so far was their eagerness to learn an English children’s church song that I taught them. They were all singing it continuously even after class was over. I love the spirits of these children!
I thank God for putting me in this place and I look forward to many more blessings through good times and weak times and challenging times working at the Hacienda of Hope.
This is a huge holiday weekend for all Latin countries ... Carnival. It lasts through next Tuesday with all banks, factories, and personal businesses being closed. I was lucky to find a few places opened until noon today. With all public schools being closed, we decided to close the School of Hope on Monday and Tuesday as well. Martin and Lorena, Santiago and Darwin all traveled yesterday after school to Riobamba to visit with their families. Their girls and Hugo & Jenny's girls get to spend the weekend together. Justin & Amanda left early this morning to go to the beach for a few days while Pat and I have baby Uliana and Isabella with us and our boys (a real cabin full)!
Our days are filled to the brim with trying to get our house and the school building construction complete. The photo to the right is of the new school construction. We are very close now and it is really exciting for everyone!
We have been blessed by God in His sending Miranda to us. She is a certified teacher of English as a Second Language and has come to Ecuador seeking God's will for her life. We have assigned her all of the classes that Justin normally teaches on a temporary basis. This frees Justin up to work full time on our new school application. We have hired a young couple to help us with the application process to work directly with Justin. She is a veteran school teacher and he is almost complete in earning a teaching degree as well. Their help has already been a wonderful blessing. The application is very, very detailed and involved, but we are all learning so much in the process. Justin believes we are progressing very well and will make the deadline if everything goes as planned. Please pray for him and our efforts in this huge task. The more we learn, the more we see God's guidance.
Our children continue to respond well in school training. It is amazing to us to see how well different students are advancing in learning English. Even though students like Jhon and Leonella really struggle in math, they both excel in English! All of the boys are learning more English due to their living in our home and Pat and I are speaking Spanish a little easier now.
We continue to be richly blessed from our study of God's word from passages like Matthew 16:23 where Jesus rebukes Peter. Jesus had told his disciples what would happen to him in Jerusalem and how he would be killed but Peter tried to correct Jesus and said "Heaven forbid" this would happen. Then Jesus said; "You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, and not from God's". We continue our efforts in "seeing things from God's point of view" as we watch Him mold the Hacienda of Hope into what it is becoming!
God bless you ...the Snyders
Thoughts from Miranda ...
I came to Ecuador last September with two main goals in mind: to learn Spanish and to serve people in need. The first five months I lived in Quito with an Ecuadorian family and taught private English lessons to support myself. In this setting, I was submerged into Ecuadorian culture and was forced to communicate in Spanish all the time. I had heard of the Hacienda of Hope even before I came to Ecuador so I always thought that I would love to end up serving there. When Jerry called me in the middle of January to ask me to teach starting in February, I immediately saw it as an opportunity to fulfill one of my purposes for being in Ecuador.
I have now been teaching English and Science to the two older groups of children at the school for almost two weeks. Already God has used this time and experience to bless me. I am living by myself at the Hacienda and although I am independent and don't mind living alone it has been an adjustment for me that has been lonely at times. But you know what God keeps reminding me even in those slightly lonely times? That I am here serving Him, serving His people, and that He is always near me. I keep thinking about the situation of these little children and the deep hurt and pain of loneliness that they must have experienced at such a young age. I cannot contemplate the kind of loneliness that comes when a parent gives up their child for whatever reason. The kids are so blessed and happy to be at the Hacienda of Hope, but I know that they have deeper scars and bigger wounds than I will ever have and that is what I need to remember when I start feeling sorry for myself over a little lonely feeling.
The kids have touched me so much already in this short amount of time. One of my favorite things so far was their eagerness to learn an English children’s church song that I taught them. They were all singing it continuously even after class was over. I love the spirits of these children!
I thank God for putting me in this place and I look forward to many more blessings through good times and weak times and challenging times working at the Hacienda of Hope.
